Cometary rotation: An overview

I discuss our current understanding of the spin states of cometary nuclei. Cometary spin influences the temporal and spatial patterns of outgassing fr om the nucleus (through diurnal and seasonal effects) and is in turn influe nced by outgassing-driven torques. The current challenge to cometary astron omers is to quantify the interactions between the spin, the outgassing, and the resultant torques on the nucleus, and to understand the role of rotati on in determining the basic physical properties of the nucleus.